MBL president Joan Ruderman ends short tenure

Joan Ruderman will leave her post as the Marine Biological Laboratory president and director later this year after a short tenure dominated by shepherding the private research facility through the early stages of an affiliation with the University of Chicago.

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By Sean F. Driscoll

capecodtimes.com

By Sean F. Driscoll

Posted May. 20, 2014 at 2:00 AM

By Sean F. Driscoll

Posted May. 20, 2014 at 2:00 AM

Joan V. Ruderman

- Family: husband, Gerald, a partner in an engineering firm, and a daughter- Education: bachelor's degree from Barnard College, doctorate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, both in...

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Joan V. Ruderman

- Family: husband, Gerald, a partner in an engineering firm, and a daughter

- Education: bachelor's degree from Barnard College, doctorate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, both in biology

- MBL history: student in MBL's embryology course in 1974; later taught and served as co-director of that program; participated in summer research program for more than 20 years; member of board of trustees since 1986; named speaker of MBL Corp. and joined the board's executive committee in 2008; named MBL's 14th president and director in November 2012

- Other work: after postdoctoral work at MIT, joined the faculty at Harvard Medical School in 1976; moved to Duke University in 1986 and returned to Harvard in 1989

Source: Cape Cod Times archives

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WOODS HOLE — Joan Ruderman will leave her post as the Marine Biological Laboratory president and director later this year after a short tenure dominated by shepherding the private research facility through the early stages of an affiliation with the University of Chicago.

Ruderman, the 14th president in MBL's 125-year history and the first woman to hold the job, announced Monday she will not seek reappointment when her second year on the job is up in October. She will stay on at least through the fall during the national search for a new director, according to an MBL news release.

One of the milestones of her tenure was executing the University of Chicago affiliation. The pact allowed the Midwestern university to expand its scientific research portfolio with MBL's experts; in turn, MBL received some much-needed financial stability.

Ruderman was unavailable to speak with the Times on Monday, but in a letter to MBL staff and scientists, she said it was time for a new generation of MBL leadership to develop plans for the organization's future and further develop the affiliation with the University of Chicago.

"I am extremely proud of the role I have played in helping to ensure that the future of MBL is as bright, if not brighter than its remarkable past, and I look forward with you to watching the MBL flourish in the years to come," Ruderman wrote. The letter was excerpted in the MBL news release.

University of Chicago President Robert Zimmer, who in November was appointed chairman of MBL's board of trustees, praised Ruderman in the news release.

"Joan's relationship with and service to the MBL has been admirably long and extraordinarily devoted," he said, adding that Ruderman "steered the MBL through a complex period into a mutually beneficial partnership with the University of Chicago."

Leading up to the affiliation, MBL had several years of declining grant funding and increased costs that caused operational deficits. MBL's leadership had considered selling assets to make ends meet, including property adjacent to nearby Stoney Beach. Those plans were ultimately scuttled when the trustees began discussions in 2012 about an affiliation with a major research university.

In 2012, the most recent year for which information is available, MBL received $25.6 million in contributions and grants, down from $32.7 million the year before. It had a $2.5 million deficit that year, according to its IRS filings.

Ruderman had a 40-year association with the Woods Hole research facility, first coming to campus in 1974 for a summer embryology course that she later taught. She would later become a member of MBL's board of trustees and its executive committee before being recruited for her current job on the retirement of former President Gary Borisy.

Susan Avery, president and director of the neighboring Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, said she appreciated and respected Ruderman's decision to resign. The two have talked numerous times about topics such as science funding and trends, and Avery said she always appreciated Ruderman's candor and charm.

"She's really been a great and valued colleague in Woods Hole and shown wonderful leadership in the transition to the affiliation with the University of Chicago," Avery said. "Having that always be at the top of your priorities takes a lot of energy, but she did that and did it well. ... I think she's done a great job."